Don’t Get Used to It (Warriors 110, Lakers 83)

The Warriors’ 110-83 rout of the Lakers was a dramatic reversal of fortune, even by the expect-anything standard of the NBA preseason. After falling down by double digits during a sluggish first half against the Lakers starters, the Warriors roared back into the lead with a 35-0 run spanning much of the second half. Sure, the run was against Lakers’ scrubs and defensive punchlines like Antawn Jamison. But for a Warriors team looking for an identity, an early taste of success due to aggressive defense and unselfish offense certainly isn’t a bad thing. It’ll never get easier against the Lakers, so we might as well enjoy the win while we can.

Welcome, basketball. It’s great to have you back — even if you are a sloppy, shambolic, parody of your normal self during these early preseason games. As has been the case in preseasons-past, the challenge in analyzing most October basketball is figuring out what — if anything — actually matters for the real season around the corner. Here are my quick takes on a few aspects of exhibition game number one.

On Stephen Curry and fragility — The Warriors made the decision to sit Curry for the first of these back-to-back exhibition games. Presumably he’ll play in Oakland on Monday night. I don’t blame the Warriors for being cautious given how things went last year, but it’s worrisome that two games in two nights is viewed as a risk. For Curry to maximize his potential, he needs to be aggressive. And to be aggressive, Curry must trust that his body is going to hold up night-in, night-out. The decision to sit him for game one of the exhibition season wasn’t exactly a vote of confidence for his durability.

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Klay Thompson 2.0 — No one doubts that the Warriors’ sophomore can shoot. But for Thompson to be more than just a specialist, he needs to open up other parts of his offensive game. He showed nice progress towards that goal in the first half, attacking the basket repeatedly. And once the drives started producing dividends, Thompson slid back into his perimeter game, exploiting the extra daylight now given to him by the Lakers’ defense. Throw in decent rebounding numbers and a few nice passes for the night, and Thompson appears ready to break onto the scene of elite young NBA talents. Watching Thompson try to make the jump from good to great should be one of the season’s best storylines to watch.

One small step for small forward — Brandon Rush started the game, but Harrison Barnes broke it open (no player beat his +22 for the night). The Warriors’ rookie delivered his as-advertised “scoring” sense, creating his own shot and adding points in a variety of ways. But what stood out was Barnes’ unexpected defensive intensity. He was bodying opponents, blocking shots and generally using his athleticism in the defensive schemes. If he can keep up that level of defensive intensity while maintaining his usual scoring, he should be a lock for the starting spot — if not on opening night, then shortly thereafter.

Carl Landry’s First Impressions — There will be nights, like this one, when Landry finds himself paired up against smaller, slighter or simply less talented reserve on the other side. On those nights, when his own weaknesses are minimized, Landry needs to find a way to be productive. The Lakers’ bench is far from imposing, so Landry was able to kick off his Warriors’ tenure with an exceptionally efficient 13 points in 16 minutes. The match-ups won’t always be this easy (Utah on Monday should provide a better test), but so far the Warriors’ free-agent acquisition looks ready to fill a need (low-post scoring).

Jarrett Jack’s First Impressions — The Warriors’ summer acquisition didn’t exactly start off with a bang, logging 7 points and 5 assists in 28 minutes. But after playing with the reserve line-up much of the week in practice, I’ll give Jack a pass. It’s going to take Jack a while to aclimate to his teammates, and sloppy play early in the preseason is inevitable even among the oldest teammates. I’m more interested to see how Jackson starts juggling minutes between Jack and Curry once they’re both healthy.

Festus Ezeli and the edge of the depth chart — How long did it take the Warriors’ rookie to pass Andris Biedrins on the depth chart? One week of practices, zero games. Ezeli got the starting nod and was what the Warriors needed on Sunday night — a big body to guard the rim, inhale rebounds and knock people around. Biedrins, on the other hand, turned in a classic 0 point, 1 steal, 4 fouls in 11 minutes performance. If Biedrins doesn’t give Jackson reason to play him, Jackson seems a bit more inclined this year just to let him ride the pine.

The bigger, tougher Utah Jazz come to town Monday evening. I’ll be curious to see whether Jackson opens up his rotation any more, or if he’s trying to get the starters and bench comfortable with each other before the season rolls around.

Adam Lauridsen

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Ahhh so beautiful to have Warriors basketball back as baseball winds down much sooner than I expected (on both sides of the Bay). Cheers to all on what I hope is a success filled 2012-2013 Warriors Season!

AussieDub

Can’t you just let suffering Warriors fans enjoy the moment 🙂
Back to reality, early days but concerning that Biedrins is not showing a pulse this early in the preseason against mediocre talent. Not good signs for the centre position especially if Bogut’s recovery is extended.
Now for Curry to run circles on his bionic ankle against the Jazz.

Nigel Tufnel

You forgot 0 rebounds on Biedrins’ line.

JanG

Why the surprise on Biedrin’s performance? I still scratch my head wondering how many of you still remain optimistic over this guy. He’s been mediocre for years. I still contend that he’s the same player he’s always been. His decent numbers in the lone playoff year were a result of the uptempo style of play, the major minutes he was getting, and the predominent outside shooting allowing him to rebound more. Give him a cushion and a book.

Thanks for this write-up, Adam. I hope you are going to have the time and energy to keep doing the excellent work you have been doing on covering the Warriors. It’s always very much appreciated! Furthermore, I find this blog (and TK’s) to have the best discussion, both in form and content.

My takeaway from last night’s game is that I was very happy to see a very aggressive defensive attitude from almost the entire team. Now it may be that the young, up-and-coming team has to make a big effort while the more talented Lakers can sit back and take it easy, it still was very promising to see that the mentality of the team we have been hearing about for this last month does seem to be manifesting itself in play. They contested everything.

If I were the Lakers, I would be very worried about my bench. Howard can sit there in his stupid peanut vendor outfit and smile and joke around all he wants, but that smile is going to turned into a petulant frown if any of their starters get injured or they start to break down after having to play 40 minutes a night. Not a factor I would bet on, but it’s a serious crack.

I yiyi yi

I Didn’t get to listen to the game, did CJenk play? How about RJ? Was there any of the practice guy in the game last night? Beans? Santa Cruz might wake him up, if he still has any pride. Is the Lakers starting five as advertised? Will there be any tv preseason game? Like maybe tonight?

Thanks Adam,
BTW, When the big date and where can we send gifts ? where do you plan on Honeymooning? Cabo is sweet. Kauai north shore has some great condos for rent and is romantic.
Cheers

El Topo

Adam,

As always, thanks for your report. Now, as I yiyi yi points out, we need a thread devoted to your marital adventure.

Otis

I yiyi yi,

RJ, had nine points on 2 for 2 from three point range, and five rebounds in 15 minutes, and was plus 18. I like the guy and wouldn’t mind seeing him play some decent minutes. Like 12 minutes a game. It would mean the other wings could play more intensely for slightly fewer minutes. CJenk had two points in limited play.

Grey Warden

Where can I watch tonight’s game?

stickdog

“But after playing with the reserve line-up much of the week in practice, I’ll give Jack a pass.”

Now that’s what I call embedded reporting!

Inside9

Lets not forget Jenkins 7 assists in 15 minutes to lead the team!

bryhsiao

Otis, I yiyi yi,
CJenkins had 2pts but 7assists 🙂

dr_john

Grey Warden–

There are many sites that purport to stream the games, most often requiring a plug-in download, jump at you with porn and ad pop-ups, sometimes very real malware.

Several links may be provided, usually the one(s) that work port you over to the atdhe DOT tw feed.

Good luck

wolfman

Lakers are all geezers now, they have to be rested all the time, they have to have nap time. I think we can beat Lakers in regular season, I’m sure of it. Laker bench couldn’t beat a “D” league team on a good day, I am very encouraged by the range and depth of the 2012 Warriors. This Warrior team looks like one that isn’t going to back down to nobody. We have the “O”, we can shoot with anybody, Defense and toughness is going to be the difference this season.

dr_john

GW–

Forgot to say—that site does show tonight’s game with one link. So it will be broadcast to Utah.

believewhat

Good to see DLee and Klay continued their good performance from last year.

AB continued his performance too 🙂

Great to see that new additions, Jack, Ezeli and Barnes seemed to live upto expectations atleast for this time.

sartre

I yiyi yi, our starters (with the exception of Thompson who looked composed and classy) were outplayed and in some cases abused by the Lakers starters in the first quarter. There was a sea change when Jenkins ran the team and the likes of Landry, Barnes, and Jefferson were subbed in with him. But in the third quarter the starters really turned it up at both ends against the Lakers bench and it was impressive regardless of the caliber of the opposition – unselfish (no alpha male going 1 on 5), committed to the team’s defensive schemes, and energized. They finally looked in synch as a unit. It’s early days but I thought the depth of talent and better balance within the roster were evident. The rooks looked like more immediate contributors and have taken quite a step up from their summer league play. The only dub (training camp invitees aside) who looked missing in action was Beans.

sartre

Great write up, Adam. I agree that MJ shouldn’t treat Curry with kid gloves and based on reports he wanted to be out there, reasoning that it was better for him to start building his game fitness and regain his rhythm from the get-go.

Another nice pull, sartre; we’re sure to see a lot of that set with Bogut and Lee up top, and Curry able to swing either way.

Query: I can’t remember the name of a site I used a lot last year that shows each game each day and breaks each game down into (1) box score and (2) who was on the floor every minute of the game, showing plus-minus every time there was a personnel change.

Thanks all.

believewhat

I have said this about Jax treating Curry cautiously. If he is not injured, he should be played even if in limited minutes. This is kind of new environment for him without Ellis and plus rookies and Bogut.

Ron

Biedrens may lead the league in inactives this season! Hope he worked on his bench attire.

Dwight Howard is a clown. The only person who doesn’t seem to realize that is him. The only thing the Lakers will win this season is the competition become the most disliked team in the league.

deano

This is preseason. It’s a big step up from Summer League, but a big step down from the regular season. Being cautious with Curry is smart, given all of the sprains, absences and surgeries he’s had. There is no downside to his missing one preseason game, or even half of them. Curry knows how to play his position. The strength of his ankle is the only concern with him. Addressing that concern is appropriate.

sartre

@deano, he is due to play his first competitive game in 7 months tonight. He needs game time to properly prepare for the season and has stated as much himself. If he is medically clear to play then why completely hold him out of a game?

thewarriorsrule

are none of you guys concerned that curry did not play? i actually think it is a big deal. we are going to give him a big contract at the end of this month, and we should be cranking him to the metal right now to see what we should be giving him. i hate to see us overpay him and then by game 10 he is injured again this year, and then we are stuck with a bad contract (just like biedrins)

RickP

Well, I thought Curry was 100% and had been going full speed in practice. I guess not quite.

I don’t understand holding him out for the first game. Why not play him and then, if he has soreness, hold him out in the second game?

sartre

@ #27 and #28, I don’t think there was a medical reason for holding him out of the game given that he is due to start tonight. Nowhere has there been mention of soreness. So no need to assume the worst 🙂 This seems solely down to MJ being overly cautious by wanting to ensure that Curry had a day off between their last full contact practice and playing a competitive game. Curry asked to play and to stagger his resumption of competitive play over the two games.

sartre

Apologies rp, I misread your soreness comment.

Eric

MJ is making a team decision when Myers should have him on the horn telling him to get Curry out there for the first half of all these games.

Notice to MJ:

There is a contract negotiation going on here, Genius….

Eric

He is said to be 100%. So treat him like he is 100% and let the chips fall as they may period.

it seems Barnes and Rush playing pretty hard and taking to the rack. Very very happy with them at SF so far. a little more rebounds would be nice.
Richard Jefferson still can play some.

I am a little worried on Mark Jack playing Lee + Landry together too much and Lee 36mins in a preseason game maybe a bit too much?
He plays great tonight as last night but I would be willing to see Ezeli+Landry together more or AB/Tyler more.

Also Curry more than 11 mins would be nice since we are going to offer him a contract extension based on his preseason performance?
Shouldnt we play him into shape? 11mins in 2 nights –> weird.

The Oracle

I’m for bringing Curry along slowly. Tired = injury and he’s obviously not in great shape yet. Patience grasshopper.

Just returned from the game. Ezeli quite impressive though inconsistnecy will be a problem in real games. He will develop though. Biedrins didnt play a lot fo minutes but was quite strong defensively- pleasing and also hopeful. Curry was really great- Jack was fast and defensive minded- and Jenkins is a very good shooting point guard for a second year player.Good insurance policy at 1 or 2. And Tyler by the way in limited minutes didnt look like the D leaue player people here described him as. The biggest weakness of the team was outside shooting so when that comes the team will; be strogn. A lot fo palyers weere a bit too sloppy with the baal- and that needs to change. Not Curry though. And Lee did play too many minutes.,

RickP

The conventional wisdom around here was that Curry’s ankle injury was originally a sprain. Then, since he came back from injury before it was healed, he sprained it several more times. He then had it scoped, they cleaned out some scar tissue and put him on a rehab program. So, according to our colleagues here, some anyway, there was nothing wrong with his ankle, and he just needed to recover from the surgery and strengthen it.

The surgery, btw, was April 25, and he expected, according to the article that day, to be cleared for full workouts in August and have two months to get ready for camp.

I hope, for the sake of the team, that this scenario is basically correct and that the comment he made about “feeling it” is nothing.

A similar thing happened with Bogut. He was supposed to be back much sooner than has turned out to be the case. The problem was that he needed surgery, which is not always the case with a break. But, for him, everything I’m reading sounds like he’s recovering as expected.

sartre

Ever the doom merchant, RP.

What pleases me is that Curry is taking a more sensible approach compared to last season.

MT III:

“He still said the outing was good. For most of the night, he said his ankle felt “great” and he didn’t look limited while cutting, running, jumping, driving, etc.
Now, they’ll monitor how his ankle responds tomorrow. If he’s problem free, he’ll play more minutes on Thursday.”

Steinmetz:

“I was exhausted,” Curry said about how he felt out there. “But it’s hard to mimic a game-like atmosphere, the adrenalin and the flow of the game. That first seven minutes was tough but I got through it. It feels all right. A little sore but that’s to be expected. We’ll see how it feels tomorrow and hopefully Thursday’s game I’ll be able to play a lot more.”

Both Marcus T and Steinmetz are reporting Curry felt fine on his ankle.
The problem was more on his conditioning than his ankle.
He was feeling a little sore which he said was expected.

Hopefully he would feel fine tomorrow and play alot more on Thursday.

Our Team

Curry’s court vision was terrific. Glad Jack is working him back slowly. Ezeli is very strong and VERY athletic. Quick feet, explosive jump and looks to have above ave hands for a big man. Curry hit him twice for lay ups that he handled fine. He also showed nice touch making two free throws. His hallmark though is tough D and he shoed he can rebound. Most important he seems to have a competitive fire inside. Kanter is good but Id take Ezeli’s size and atheticism over Kanter and that’s saying something. I think he may be a steal of the draft.

Barnes absolutely blew by athletic Ellis Burks who is several inches shorter twice from the left wing and drove to the hoop. I didn’t realize Barnes was that quick and explosive. Burks could not stay with him. I was disappointed in Barnes’ defensive intensity but on offense he is an explosive athlete with good size. He and Ezeli could both become special players down the road if they continue to work very hard. Landry worked hard inside in the low post. He looked like the good old Landry we want to see. Clearly Jackson wanted to see how Lee and Lndry could handle playing together wo a center against Kanter and Favors and they held their own.

sartre

Thanks for the report, Fantom. I was hoping we’d hear from people who were at the game. Let’s hope Adam was able to see it. I only heard the Jazz radio commentary and they weren’t pleased with hard fouls made on Kanter by Landry. For an ever smiling guy off the court who tweets positive Christian messages he sure isn’t shy about being rough with opponents.

Our Team

Let me put it this way, after seeing Ezeli’s potential in person I won’t give a second thought to trading away Udoh or not taking Monroe in the 2011 draft. Ezeli is still a bit raw, but he is bigger/ stronger and more explosive than either (Monroe, by far).